Zen Stick

ABSTRACT

A Zen Stick manufactured from a wood selected from the group consisting of Black and White Ebony, Olivewood, Bocote, Cocobolo, Purpleheart, Zebrawood, Tulipwood, Kingwood and a blend of Ebony, Olivewood, Cocobolo and Bocote., having a length of approximately eleven inches and a cylindrical outer surface of approximately one and a quarter inches, the cylindrical surface being highly polished.

This application is a non-provisional application based in part on theprovisional application Ser. No. 60/922,363, filed Apr. 9, 2007 in thename of Laurie Susan Desjardins of Sperry, Okla.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus or device which can bereferred to as a “Zen Stick” which is used by the owner or user toassist in various phases of relaxation and meditation. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to the method of making the“Zen Stick.” Applicant relies on all or any part of the disclosure ofthe above provisional application.

2. Prior Art

The present inventor is the first to have created a “Zen Stick” for thepurposes set forth herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The apparatus or device of the present invention is a “Zen Stick” whichis preferably a cylindrical piece of wood, preferably of exoticmaterial, having a diameter of approximately one and one quarter inchesand a length of approximately eleven inches. The outer cylindricalsurface of the “Zen Stick” is highly polished. The owner or user of the“Zen Stick” is encouraged to toss the stick in the air and to catch itwith his eyes closed. Whereas, it may be difficult at first to catch the“Zen Stick” with ones eyes closed, nevertheless, repeated attempts willlead to success, particularly where the tosser blocks every thing elsefrom his thoughts and shifts his focus to the catching of the stick. Thesuccessful catching of the “Zen Stick” is intended to provide a feelingor aura of peace by the very act of catching the stick.

The “Zen Stick” can be made from Black and White Ebony, Olivewood,Bocote, Cocobolo, Purpleheart, Zebrawood, Tulipwood, Kingwood, and ablend of Ebony, Olivewood, Cocobolo and Bocote, and possibly othersimilar woods.

The initial form of the wood piece from which the “Zen Stick” of thepresent invention is made is generally about one and one-half inches indiameter and approximately twelve inches long. The cross-sectional shapeof the “Zen Stick” in this initial form is generally square orrectangular.

For the blends, twelve inch long strips of the woods to be blended areselected and compressed together using “Elmer's”® Carpenters Wood Glueand very sturdy clamps to minimize voids that are present. After dryingfor several days or longer, the blended stick is milled first to a sizeof one and a half inches in diameter (circular or square) and a lengthof approximately twelve inches.

The next step in the production of the “Zen Stick” involves placement ofthe one and one-half inch by twelve inch long stick in a lathe usingconventional lathe techniques. The stick is turned in the lathe to anouter cylindrical dimension of one and one-quarter inches at which timethe wood piece is removed from the lathe and the ends are lopped off tomake the stick 11 inches long. Following the removal of the “Zen Stick”from the lathe, the stick undergoes a series of sanding and polishingoperations.

The wood piece removed from the lathe and hereinafter referred to as a“Zen Stick,” will be sanded first using 60 grit sandpaper to remove allunnatural marks, cuts, grooves and scratches. For the 60 grit sandpaperand some of the subsequent finer sandpapers, the operator willpreferably use a “mouse” which is a small triangular motorized sandingdevice. It is necessary to change papers after every few sticks, inparticular, the more oily woods as oil collects onto the sandpaper.Cocobolo is the oiliest, and usually after sanding two sticks, it isnecessary to change the paper.

After sanding for about ten to fifteen minutes with the 60 gritsandpaper, the Zen Stick is cured for twenty-four hours using Pentacryl,a wood stabilizing solution comprising siliconized polymers. Next, theZen Stick is dried for at least twenty-four hours. The Zen Stick is nextwashed with mineral spirits to dissolve the Pentacryl. Next, the ZenStick is washed with dish soap to dissolve the mineral spirits.

Following the washing of the Zen Stick with dish soap, there are aseries of operation involving sandpaper, first 120 grit sandpaper, 220grit sandpaper, 320 grit sandpaper, 400 grit sandpaper and 600 gritsandpaper. The operator will know when he is ready for the next step,when there is no resistance against the sand paper and it moves smoothlyand evenly across the surface.

Following the treatment with the 600 grit sandpaper the Zen Stick willbe sanded with 600 grit white aluminum oxide screen mesh thensuccessively with 800 grit, 1,000 grit, 2,000 grit, 3,000 grit and 4,000grit white aluminum oxide screen mesh.

Following the treatment with various grades of white aluminum oxidescreen mesh, the Zen Stick is buffed on a motorized buffer wheel withjeweler's rouge.

Next, the Zen Stick is cleaned with “Pledge”® to remove rouge. Finallythe Zen Stick is treated with “Renaissance”® microcrystalline waxpolish.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the wood piece which is used in theinitial stages of the making of the Zen Stick;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the wood piece of FIG. 1 after it hasbeen treated in the lathe to make a totally cylindrical object; and,

FIG. 3 is a view of the Zen Stick of FIG. 2 after the ends have beenlopped off and the stick assumes the overall dimensions of an eleveninch cylindrical member having an outer cylindrical diameter of one andone-quarter inches.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 shows a square orrectangular block 12 of wood which is approximately twelve inches longby about one and a half inches along the sides of the square. Asindicated previously, the wood can be Black and White Ebony, Olivewood,Bocote, Cocobolo, Purpleheart, Zebrawood, Tulipwood, Kingwood and ablend of Ebony, Olivewood, Cocobolo and Bocote. In the event that it isdesired to make a piece of wood which is a “blend” the worker willselect pieces at twelve inch lengths, file down the obvious edges, useglue to fill in the remaining gaps and then put the pieces in three handvices as tight as they will go. Preferably, Elmer's Carpenters Wood Glueis used because it is sandable.

The block 12 of FIG. 1 is placed in a lathe so that the lathe pinsthereof (not shown) engage the indents 14 at the ends of the block andthe piece is turned until the block 12 becomes block 16 of FIG. 3 whichis twelve inches long and one and a quarter inches in diameter and, mostimportantly, completely cylindrical.

In FIG. 3, the cylinder 16 of FIG. 2 has had the ends lopped off so thatthe cylinder is now eleven inches long. The cylinder of FIG. 3 can nowbe subjected to the various sanding steps etc., referred to above.

The wood piece removed from the lathe and hereinafter referred to as a“Zen Stick,” will be sanded first using 60 grit sandpaper to remove allunnatural marks, cuts, grooves and scratches. For the 60 grit sandpaperand some of the subsequent finer sandpapers, the operator willpreferably use a “mouse” which is a small triangular motorized sandingdevice. It is necessary to change papers after every few sticks, inparticular, the more oily woods as oil collects onto the sandpaper.Cocobolo is the oiliest, and usually after sanding two sticks, it isnecessary to change the paper.

After sanding for about ten to fifteen minutes with the 60 gritsandpaper, the Zen Stick is cured for twenty-four hours using Pentacryl,a wood stabilizing solution comprising siliconized polymers. Next, theZen Stick is dried for at least twenty-four hours. The Zen Stick is nextwashed with mineral spirits to dissolve the Pentacryl. Next, the ZenStick is washed with dish soap to dissolve the mineral spirits.

Following the washing of the Zen Stick with dish soap, there are aseries of operation involving sandpaper, first 120 grit sandpaper, 220grit sandpaper, 320 grit sandpaper, 400 grit sandpaper and 600 gritsandpaper. The operator will know when he is ready for the next step,when there is no resistance against the sand paper and it moves smoothlyand evenly across the surface.

Following the treatment with the 600 grit sandpaper the Zen Stick willbe sanded with 600 grit white aluminum oxide screen mesh thensuccessively with 800 grit, 1,000 grit, 2,000 grit, 3,000 grit and 4,000grit white aluminum oxide screen mesh.

Following the treatment with various grades of white aluminum oxidescreen mesh, the Zen Stick is buffed on a motorized buffer wheel withjeweler's rouge.

Next, the Zen Stick is cleaned with “Pledge”® to remove rouge. Finallythe Zen Stick is treated with “Renaissance”® microcrystalline waxpolish.

The Zen Stick of FIG. 3, after it has been subjected to the varioussanding steps etc., referred to herein is now ready for use as a devicethat assists in meditation and relief of stress. The person who wishesto take advantage of the unique properties of the Zen Stick will stand,preferably away from others, and gently toss the stick in the air. Aftertossing the stick several times the person will then attempt to catch itwith his eyes closed. Once the person successfully catches the Zen Stickwith his eyes closed he will, as others have explained, feel some degreeof serenity and peace.

Whereas the present invention has been described in particular relationto the drawings attached hereto, other and further modifications, apartfrom those shown or suggested herein, may be made within the spirit andscope of this invention.

1. A Zen Stick manufactured from a wood selected from the group consisting of Black and White Ebony, Olivewood, Bocote, Cocobolo, Purpleheart, Zebrawood, Tulipwood, Kingwood and a blend of Ebony, Olivewood, Cocobolo and Bocote., having a length of approximately eleven inches and a cylindrical outer surface of approximately one and a quarter inches, said cylindrical surface being highly polished.
 2. The method of making a Zen Stick which comprises the steps of first producing a piece of wood selected from the group consisting of Black and White Ebony, Olivewood, Bocote, Cocobolo, Purpleheart, Zebrawood, Tulipwood, Kingwood and a blend of Ebony, Olivewood, Cocobolo and Bocote, selecting a piece of approximately twelve inches in length and an external square or cylindrical shape of one and a half inches, placing the piece of wood in a lathe to reduce the wood to a cylindrical shape having an outer diameter of one and one quarter inches, removing the piece of wood from the lathe lopping off the ends and polishing the surface of the cylindrical member using a series of sanding steps starting with 60 grit sand paper and ending up with jeweler's rouge.
 3. A method of making a Zen Stick as set forth in claim 2 wherein the sanding steps include successively sanding the cylindrical surface of the stick removed from the lathe with 60 grit sandpaper, curing the stick for 24 hours using Pentacryl, washing the stick with mineral spirits to dissolve the Pentacryl, washing the stick with dish soap to dissolve the mineral spirits,, sanding the stick successively with 120 grit sandpaper, 220 grit sandpaper, 320 grit sandpaper, 400 grit sandpaper and 600 grit sandpaper, sanding the stick successively with 600 grit white aluminum oxide screen mesh, 800 grit white aluminum oxide screen mesh, 1,000 grit white aluminum oxide screen mesh, 2,000 grit white aluminum oxide screen mesh, 3,000 grit white aluminum oxide screen mesh, 4,000 grit white aluminum oxide screen mesh, thereafter buffing the stick on a motorized buffer wheel using jeweler's rouge, cleaning the stick with “Pledge” brand furniture polish to remove the rouge, and treating the stick with “Renaissance” brand microcrystalline wax polish.
 4. A method of making a Zen Stick as set forth in claim 2 wherein the block prepared from the blend is first made by selecting twelve inch long strips of the woods to be blended and compressing them together using “Elmer's”® Carpenters Wood Glue and very sturdy clamps to minimize voids, and drying the block for several days. 